(1939-11-26) Short-Sheeting the Boys
Details for Short-Sheeting the Boys
Summary: Madeline and Augusta get to talking about some of the boys in the Gryffindor Common Room, and before long plans are made to prank a particular pair of them.
Date: 1939-11-26
Location: Gryffindor Common Room
Related:
Characters
MadelineAugusta

The big, round common room of Gryffindor Tower is full of squashy stuffed armchairs and couches upholstered in rich red fabric. Tables are placed in useful spots around the room and a bulletin board is up on one wall, where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. can be posted. The wooden floors are covered by old Persian rugs and the walls are covered in burgundy wallpaper that depict various mystical animals in golden silhouettes. Illumination is provided by a large window that looks out onto the castle grounds and is supplemented by a fireplace that dominates one large section of the wall providing not only light but also warmth.


Stretched out on the couch is one of the littler Gryffindors - Madeline Evans. Her feet kick idly above her and she hums to herself as she reads the magazine laid out in front of her. ASTOUNDING Science Fiction is the name of the magazine - written in small but bold print at the top of every page - and it's a known favorite past time for the second year. Reaching out, she flips the page, revealing an image of strange lizard men creeping across a barren landscape.

"Morning, Maddy," Augusta says, appearing down the stairs that lead to the dorms. "What's that you're reading? Looks a wee bit nasty…" Pausing behind the couch that the younger housemate is lying on, she peers down and over the other girl's shoulder, eyes squinting at the lizard men. "Interesting, though not very likely. I wonder if I could design something like that to use in a belt… Would look good with green sequins and bits of red glass." Which is probably a little tame an idea for the young Macmillan, given some of the ideas which she's come up with in the past. But best not to mention stuffed rats on hats. Not today.

"They're aliens; they're on a distant planet, orbiting a distant star," Madeline explains cheerfully, looking up at Augusta with a smile. "Hi, Augusta. It's called Astounding Science Fiction. It's a Muggle magazine from America. I have more of 'em up in my trunk, if you ever wanna read one. They're neat!" she encourages the older student. "You could make a green scaly hat with green sequins and red glass," she suggests.

A brilliant smile melts over Augusta's face and she plonks herself down on the arm of Maddy's couch, pulling the overly large dressing gown she wears across and over her legs. "Aye. That'd be a fine looking hat. I might work on that next, though right now I'm working on something to wear to Eibon's New Year's Eve Party." And those very words should strike fear into the heart of anyone with a smidge of fashion sense—for Augusta's creations are certainly different. "Are you going?"

"Oh… I dunno. Me and Eibon, uh, have a history." And there's the understatement of the evening. The whole house knows of the feud between Madeline and Angelus - and how he had mistreated, abused, and bullied the much younger girl during the whole 'Magijugend' and 'SCUMS class' debacle. Even if Madeline did forge a truce in recent weeks. "Plus, I mean, I was sitting right there, you know? Sitting right there at a table with him, talking to him, and Josie walks up - and he invites her. But not me, not till I point out how rude he was being." She shift uncomfortably as she explains this, her gaze directed down at her magazine.

Augusta pulls a bag of jellybeans from her pocket and offers it towards Madeline. "You should go," she says simply, giving the bag a little shake. Perhaps she hopes that some of the yuckier flavors will find their way to the top, because god knows, nobody likes the green ones. Or the black. "If only to show that you're not bothered by everything that happened and that you're mature enough to handle his own immaturity." A pause. "And I'll talk to you, so you'll know someone there at least."

"You think?" Madeline muses in an uncertain voice. "I was worried, umm, that it'd be nothing but purebloods - I mean, the Magijugend sort of purebloods," she explains as she reaches out to claim a jellybean, and pop it in her mouth. "I told Eibon I might not go 'cuz I don't know if we'll be doing family stuff or not - visiting an aunt or uncle or something."

"Oh. Okay. Well if you do, you know…" Augusta roots around in the bag of sweets for a moment, then pops one into her mouth, chewing down on it. Orange, of course. She likes bright colors. ALL the colors! "I'm pureblood too, you know. And I'm not so bad, ye ken?" A squint at the other girl. She's not Magijugend either, but then that's a whole other kettle of fish and one that's not been too much of an issue for her in the past. Chew. Chew. She chews on her sweet then gives a flick of her fingers through her pixie-cut hairstyle. "If you like, I'll talk to Eibon. Tell him not to be such a prat."

"No. I know. I mean, you and Angus and Amber and her brother Anthony and Megan too, you're all great, and you're all pureblood," Madeline confirms. "My uncle'd be just as mad at me for judging people by blood as by houses. Maybe even more." She grins as she adds more quietly, "But he can't stop me from judging 'em for being Magijugend!" As for Angelus - she shakes her head hastily. "You don't got to do that. I think we have it mostly sorted. I mean, he hasn't been bad at all. He's trying to be nice, he's just not very good at it."

Augusta pulls a face and swallows her bean down, offering the bag over to Madeline once more. "Augh well. That's good then. He's not as bad as some, and there's times when I think he's only acting the way he does because he -thinks- he ought to. Peer pressure, ye ken? I should glue myself to his side for a day or two, force him to be nice with my wand to his back." Which is a joke. Joke. She'd never use magic on anyone without it being duelling club, or supervised lessons. Been in enough trouble for THAT in the past not to want to revisit Dumbledore's office.

"He is as bad," Madeline mutters. Despite the peace she's forged - despite doing her best to truly forgive Angelus - bitterness does creep back in sometimes. She claims another jellybean. "But, yeah, you're probably right about the peer pressure thing. I mean, he can be perfectly nice one minute - but then Lucretia Black walks in, and he's a complete git all of the sudden."

Augusta scrunches her nose at the mention of Lucretia's name. "Oh her. Well, maybe he just needs to start keeping better company," she says, moving one of the cushions so that she slide off the arm of the couch and into the corner of the seating. Does she mean herself? Difficult to tell given that her expression gives nothing away of what she's thinking and a quick scrunch is given the bag to twist it shut before she shoves it back deep into her pockets. "But ye ken, all boys are gits when trying to impress someone. They grow out of it. Eventually."

"Well. It helps that she won't talk to him. Plus, I heard he tried to KISS her and that he even," Madeline makes a face, "proposed to her. Can you believe it? ICK!" She shifts a little to make more room for the older girl, scooting her magazine along with her. "Angus isnae a git, ye ken," she answers - trying her hand at adopting how the older girl talks, as she's known to attempt, from time to time. "I know loads of boys who are nae gits."

Augusta giggles at Madeline's attempt to speak Doric, perhaps because she, herself, tries not to quite hard. Its difficult when people scrunch their faces and have to try to work out what you're saying, so unlike her cousin she loses a lot of the broadness of it. "Angus is nae a git. No. But Angus is Angus, and I just flip him into the mud when he acts like one." Which indicates at times that he is. "And I did'nae know about Eibon proposing, fit gipe. Everyone knows she's betrothed already to that Ignatius Prewett."

"Well, he's nae the brightest git around. I mean he-" Madeline cuts herself off - it wouldn't be nice to make fun of him for doing poorly in transfigurations. She's lousy at it, herself. "Well. No one's good at all of their classes," she finishes with a quiet mumble.

Augusta grins, pulling her legs up so that she drop her chin on her knees. "Aye. I can't throw a charm spell to save my life. I'm sure I'll fail my OWLs in it. Professor Viridian tries, but I think he might just give up on me soon. Still. Charms aren't everything… Right?" Fingers lace about her shins and picks at the edge of her gown with her teeth, snagging a threat which starts to unravel. "Maybe I should help Angus a bit if transfiguration is giving him trouble. Give him extra homework." And that'll go down well.

"Is Angus having trouble in it?" Madeline asks. "I know me and Eibon are, but I'm working hard at it. You know, to catch up and everything. I hope I pass this year. Charms I'm pretty good at, and I'd help if I could, but the only fourth year spell I know is the bubblehead charm."

Confusion shows on Auggy's face for a moment. "I thought you said he was, didn't you?" Or maybe Augusta just heard the younger girl wrong, or heard the wrong thing, or was thinking about something else when Maddy spoke. Weird. She pushes a hand through her hair, lifting the short lengths so they stick up between her fingers like a porcupine's quills and gives a sudden grin. "You don't have to help me with Charms, but Merlin's beard! I suddenly want to prank that cousin of mine."

"It's Eibon that's terrible at Transfiguration!" Madeline clarified, letting out a quiet laugh. At the mention of a prank, though, she looks up at the older girl curiously. "A prank? Like what? We could short-sheet his bed. I did that to my mum and da' once."

Augusta chews on a nail. "Mmm. But then we'll need to have a boy help us." A glance about the room. "You know any boys you trust well enough to sneak us in when nobody's around? Or… maybe we could just steal all his left shoes and boots. Mind. It being Angus, he'd likely fair not notice if he were to be wearin' mismatched shoes."

"Well. … Eibon might, really, but we could do it ourselves if we were careful. It's just - if anyone says they saw us up there, well, he's know who done it, right?" Madeline responds, giving a shrug of her shoulders.

Augusta pulls a face. "Do we care if he knows?" Mischief plays across her expression and she uncurls from the couch and pushes to her feet. "We should do it now. Its not like short-sheeting a bed is casting a hex or charm on him. Its a giggle. If anyone is in there, they'll probably giggle about it to." A tilt of her head and a touch of her tongue to her upper lip. "What's the worse that could happen?" Daft question really, being as she's his cousin she should KNOW how bad Angus can be. Which is to say, horribly bad. Retribution might be awful.

Madeline closes her magazine, and rises to her feet. "Yeah, sure!" she agrees brightly. She hesitates a moment before asking, "Should we do Eibon's too? Do harmless pranks mean there's no hard feelings, or would he think I was trying to get back at him?"

Augusta considers that a moment, and then her smile grows brighter. "I'll do Eibon's, you do Angus'. Its the perfect solution!" Feeling rather chuffed with herself for the simple solution, Auggy knots her dressing gown belt firmly about her middle and rolls her sleeves to her elbows. Things just got serious.

Madeline nods her head. "Then I can tell Eibon I didn't do it without lying, and you can tell Angus!" she agrees cheerfully, glancing up the stairs towards the boys' dorms. "…let's go," she announces.

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